


Watch Your Six

by clovermonkey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Blood and Injury, Blue Paladin Allura (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Guilt, HE, IT - Freeform, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance appreciation, Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mutual Pining, Needs, Operation Kuron (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Red Paladin Lance (Voltron), Serious Injuries, because, idk why it just kind of happened, klangst, kuron is a jerk to lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-08 19:44:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15250656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clovermonkey/pseuds/clovermonkey
Summary: The following moment happens agonizingly slow. Keith and Lance were both unaware of the Galran ships that landed behind Lance.A shot rings.Two Paladins freeze.Three ticks pass until a pair of knees fall to the ground. Keith is already sprinting."Lance!"Or; Lance gets injured while saving an allied race and Keith can't cope.





	Watch Your Six

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy this very long mess I created past 3am because I couldn't sleep~

Keith refused to admit it to his face, but he really enjoyed Lance. Especially when they trained. Together, they moved so well; Lance was fluid and strategized patiently while Keith was quick to move and think. Every action one did complemented that of the other and it didn't take long to realize and perfect it. And when Coran noticed, he was intrigued at the very least. He would try to create intense training simulations that they wouldn't be able to complete, but they showed him each time that they could pull through.

That is, until today.

"Keith, look out!" Lance called once while training, already fixing his gun on a drone headed for Keith. Before it even came arms length away from him Lance shot it down swiftly, smirking almost fondly at his shocked teammate above the barrel of the gun.

Keith's eyes widened and focused behind Lance. "Watch your six-!"

It was useless, though, because a training drone had already shocked Lance from behind amidst his distracted state.

Lance shrieks and jumps away, grabbing at his shoulder where he was hit. "Ah-ha!" Coran's voice cheers from the speakers. "End simulation! Coran, the brilliant battle strategist, has proven himself once again!"

Keith and Lance scowl, shoulders drooping. "Man, we were so close!" Lance pouts, crossing his arms.

"Good job, Lance," Keith, rolls his eyes, summoning his bayard from its sword form.

Lance does the same with his gun and turns to glare at Keith, "What do you mean? This is all your fault!"

" _My_ fault? How?"

The tips of Lance's ears turn pink but, thankfully to him, Keith doesn't seem to notice. "I had to watch  _your_ six because you were too busy trying to show off!"

"First of all," Keith starts, crossing his arms, "that drone wasn't at my 'six' he was to the left of me. Second of all, he wasn't even close to me yet! You were the one showing off."

Unbeknownst to him, Keith was actually right: Lance _had_ been showing off. Pidge walks in, though, before Lance can argue back to inform them that dinner is ready.

"And don't even think about bickering on the way. I don't want to hear it."

She turns with an eyeroll, Keith and Lance both huffing in defeat as they follow her out. The walk is silent until Keith hears Lance sniff. "Do I have time to change before dinner? And shower? I'm all sweaty and this paladin armor is very uncomfortable."

Keith looks over in the corner of his eye and curses at himself for doing so. He hadn't realized how sweaty Lance was from training, but he can make even _that_ look hot instead of disgusting like Keith imagines himself looking right now. He runs a hand self-consciously through his hair.

"No, we've all been waiting on you two and Coran. He, however, sprinted to the dining hall to brag about besting you two. He's probably still going on about it, that's why I was sent to get you. We're all starving."

Keith looks away while Lance and Pidge proceed to talk about what Hunk made for dinner. They enter the dining hall and take their seats, Keith and Lance taking two empty seats beside each other and Pidge on the other side of the table between Shiro and Hunk who encourages everyone to dig in. Keith wastes no time doing so - training took a lot more out of him than he expected.

"So, I heard training went well," Allura grins, and Keith swears he could see a glint of mischief in her eyes as everyone groans in response. That short sentence is what causes Coran to delve into yet another boisterous speech about the whole training session in detail, even acting out parts of it as Lance or Keith with an imaginary gun or sword, respectively. Keith and Lance groan.

Coran is cut off short, however, when the castle ship sounds an unfamiliar tune through the speakers.

"Woah, what is that? We aren't under attack, are we?" Hunk asks, voicing all of our concerns.

Allura stands, "No, it's someone trying to communicate with us. We should go answer, they could be our allies." Everyone stands and reluctantly leaves their half-eaten plates of food goo to follow her to the command room. She stands in the center and allows the call to come through. The castle ship projects in front of us a real-time video of a familiar alien species. "Oh, Khar-Ei, it's you! Where's your chief?"

The alien nods. "Yes, Princess Allura. I apologize if I'm intruding, but we're in danger," he rushes out frantically.

"What happened?" Shiro asks beside her.

"A Galran fleet came out of nowhere and took Chief Skra-Sa. I don't know what to do!"

"Don't panic, we're headed there now," Allura assures him. The call ends and she turns to Coran, "We need to get there as soon as possible. Chief Skra-Sa has been in charge on their planet for several decapheebs and their people don't have anyone to take her place. Not only could we lose our alliance with them, but their planet would fall into chaos."

Coran nods, already busying himself with the steering controls, and Shiro turns to us. "Go suit up, you'll need to be ready when we get there. There's no telling what the Galra are planning to do or have already done to Chief Skra-Sa."

Everyone nods and hurries out of the room towards the Lion Hangar, Allura calling after us to ensure she will join as soon as she gets us to the planet.

"I don't know about you guys," Lance starts, running beside Keith, "but I was really hoping we could finish  _one_ meal without the Galra interrupting."

"Agreed," Hunk groans.

"Hopefully it doesn't take as long as it did last time."

The rest hum in agreement to Pidge's statement before turning the last corner into the hangar. They all separate, Hunk and Pidge to the lockers to grab their armor and Keith and Pidge straight to their Lions. However, something compels Keith to turn to Lance and say, "Hey, don't forget to watch your six this time, sharpshooter."

Before he gets a chance to see Lance's reaction, he turns and jogs to the Black Lion. There, his entire body grows hot as the realization of what he just said dawns on him.

Only a few doboshes pass until Allura informs the team through the communicators in their helmets that they have arrived and to hurry out. The four launch the Lions out of the hangar, each looking around the vast expanse to assess the situation.

"I see a large Galra ship to the right of the castle, maybe they are holding the chief there," Pidge reports.

Lance replies immediately, "Yeah, but there are also a bunch of Galra fighter ships on the planet. Keith, got a plan, buddy?"

Keith looks in both places, confirming what his teammates said. "Uh, yeah," he says, hands sweaty on the controls, "I think so. Pidge, you will sneak onto the ship and hack their cameras to see if the chief is onboard. Hunk will cover you. Lance and I will take care of the Galra on the planet. Sound good?"

"Got it."

"Let's roll out."

"Nice plan, Leader. Let's show these Galra what the Black and Red Paladins of Voltron are made of," Lance adds, and Keith can practically hear the smirk on his lips.

Keith's heart flutters at that but he ignores it, piloting Black to follow Lance who is already headed to the planet's surface. "Hunk and Pidge, be careful. If you need help, Allura can get to you faster than us but we'll try to make it if we can," he says, looking at the Green and Yellow Lions as they hurry off to the Galran ship.

"We'll let you know," Pidge assures before she and Hunk separate their comms from ours.

"Where should we land?" Lance asks as they enter the atmosphere.

Keith looks around and notices a small but empty valley on the opposite side of large hills from where the Galra droids are swarming. "See that clearing by the hills? Land there, we'll have cover from the mountains and an advantage on them."

"Roger that."

Once they've landed, Keith and Lance sprint up the hill, thighs burning sorely from training earlier. Lance suddenly pushes far past him and Keith notices he's using the jets on his back to propel him farther up, so he does the same. He meets his teammate at the top only a moment after him and says, "Alright, so you have an advantage up here to shoot. You stay and cover me, I'll fight down there."

Lance hesitates before nodding. "Okay. Be careful."

Keith is caught off guard by the sudden concern from Lance but warmth floods through his ribcage. Not trusting his voice, he nods shortly before sliding down the hill toward the Galra, summoning his bayard to form his sword along the way. Lance is already getting to work shooting droids from his vantage point. Keith sprints towards the droids and sees they're corralling the planet's citizens into some of the ships.

"Lance, they're planning to take the people," Keith says into the comm before slashing his sword through the metallic chest of an oncoming droid.

"On it," he replies. The droid falls in front of Keith just in time to see one beside the people fall to the ground with a hole through its head.

"Nice shot."

Keith continues fighting, droid after droid collapsing in his path. When he notices the numbers diminishing quickly, he takes a moment to contact Hunk and Pidge through the comms. "Guys, how is everything up there?"

"Pidge got us in and is now trying to hack the ship's cameras. How are you guys?" Hunk responds.

Lance is the one to reply, "Don't worry about us, buddy, we're kicking ass down here."

Keith disconnects the comms again to resume fighting. Lance handles all of the droids surrounding the people while Keith takes down those who are trying to shoot up at Lance. Finally, after stabbing one through the chest, Keith turns to look for any remaining droids but sees none. His shoulders relax, "I think that's all of them."

He looks to the hill and has to squint slightly to look up at Lance who has a sun setting behind him as he stands. He rests the barrel of his gun on his shoulder and juts his hip out, "We make a good team."

His heart stutters as he stares up at Lance's silhouette.  _I'm so screwed_ , he thinks but sighs happily. "Let's head back to our Lions and see if Hunk and Pidge need-"

Keith and Lance were both unaware of the Galran ships that landed by their Lions, behind Lance. Time slows briefly.

A shot rings.

Two hearts stop briefly.

Three ticks pass until a pair of knees fall to the ground. Keith is already sprinting.

" _Lance_!" Keith shouts, time speeding back up as he hurries up the hill.

Lance simply kneels at the top of the hill, looking down at the hole drilled straight through the center of his stomach with a blank expression.

" _Lance_!" Keith shouts again, clumsily running up the hill and using the jetpack to drag his frantic legs against the ground.

Lance looks up at Keith with the same expression, eyes sharp in contrast to the rest of his relaxed face. He's in shock. His body sways forward and nearly hits the ground but instead falls into Keith's embrace as he dives forward to catch him. Lance's body pushes heavily against his. Keith looks over Lance's shoulder to see Galra droids surrounding their Lions and even more headed up the hill. He grabs the gun Lance dropped on the side and reaches around him, shooting messily at the droids but managing to hit most that were approaching them.

"Lance, c'mon, I need you to snap out of it," Keith says frantically, pulling them a few feet down the hill and away from the droids' sight. "Lance,  _please_ ," Keith croaks, leaning away to look at his teammate who now lays on his lap, staring at him.

"Keith. . . I. . ." he starts, looking down at himself, "I can't. . . feel it. . ."

"You're in shock," Keith replies, following his gaze to the wound. He whimpers at the sight of blood oozing out and staining the armor, covering it with his right hand and applying pressure in hopes it will help. Although, the instant he does, Lance convulses and cries out in pain, the muscles in his stomach spasming under his hand. Keith panics but keeps his hand in place, looking back at Lance, "I'm so sorry, but you're bleeding too much."

"Hurts," Lance grunts out, squeezing his eyes shut, face twisted in pain.

Keith shuts his eyes, trying to think of something - anything - to do. He contacts the team through the comms in the helmet. "Allura, we need a ride  _now_. Lance is down and needs a healing pod. Hurry!"

"Oh, I'm headed there now," she breathes, worried.

"Lance is down?" Hunk asks, equally worried.

Pidge jumps in, "We have the chief so we'll head down to help."

Keith looks up, searching for the Blue Lion, waiting for it to enter the atmosphere. "Come on, come on," he whispers to himself, anxiety beating through his body, while Lance writhes around his lap in pain.

"Keith," Lance groans while clutching onto the neck of Keith's armor, getting his attention. Keith looks down to see Lance's eyes wide and full of fear, tears streaming from them down his temples and into his hair. "I don't want to die."

A sob heaves through Keith's chest, "Shut up, Lance, I'm not letting you die. You're could even best Death with your stubbornness so you're stuck with me, alright?"

A thick chuckles escapes from Lance's mouth, bringing crimson blood with it. "Alright," he whispers before coughing.

Keith hurries to sit Lance up - despite his loud shouts of pain - to avoid him from choking on his blood which now streams down his chin. "Allura, where the hell are you?" Keith asks\ shortly before hearing the sound of metal clunking on the other side of the hill.

"Entering the atmosphere now. There are droids nearby so I can't land yet, you'll have to give me a minute," she responds.

Keith looks up to see the Blue Lion flying over them to the other side of the hill. The sound of droids continues to get closer, though, so he hooks one arm underneath Lance's knees and the other under his back. "Hold on, Lance," he whispers, standing up. Lance yells out again, grip tightening on Keith's armor. Keith turns around and hurries down the hill, stumbling as he goes but using his jetpack to right himself anytime he almost hits the ground. Every once in a while, though, the jetpack is too late, causing his legs to drag against the rocks and his torso to strain as he holds Lance higher in the air to prevent him from hitting the ground, too. When he makes it to the bottom, he stands, ignoring his burning legs, and turns to see droids charging down the hill after them despite Allura's efforts. "Shit," Keith curses, turning to his last resort. He deploys his shield between them and the droids, pressing his body against it and holding Lance up on the other side of him with his free arm. The droids begin shooting at it.

"I'm getting dizzy, Lance whimpers. Keith looks down to see his eyes crossing slightly.

"No, no, no. . . Lance, you need to stay awake. Keep your eyes open, come on," he encourages, shaking him lightly.

Lance leans into Keith, eyes going in and out of focus. "I can't," he sobs, tears streaming down his face.

"You  _can_ , Lance. You're strong. You  _can't leave us_ , we would all fall apart without you," Keith stresses, holding him tighter. Lance begins shaking his head but he continues, "You're our glue, the most important part of our team. None of us would still be here if it weren't for you, okay? If you leave, I-  _we_ couldn't manage." Another sob bubbles out of Lance before he chokes on his blood trying to inhale. Keith attempts to push him up in a sitting position with one arm to clear the airway. "Allura!" Keith shouts, searching in the air again for the Blue Lion.

"I'm almost done!" she informs them. Keith looks through the shield to see Blue shoot down the last two droids who were shooting at his shield. Immediately, he shuts it and stands, carrying Lance again bridal style, and sprints for Blue who is landing only a few meters away.

"He's not doing good, you need to hurry," Keith rushes out as soon as he makes it in the cockpit.

Allura doesn't even glance back, instead launching Blue right back towards the castle ship. "What happened?"

"A droid shot him through the stomach," he says, back hitting the wall and sliding down to sit. Lance grunts out softly as Keith adjusts him more comfortably. Lance's shaking arms wind around his stomach as he cries silently. "Is there a healing pod ready?" Keith asks desperately, holding him tightly against him.

"Yes, Coran is getting one ready now," she replies. Keith looks past the back of her seat to see her hands nervously clench the controls tightly. "I'm going as fast as I can, hang in there, Lance."

Keith looks back down at him to see his eyes closed and jaw slack. "No, no," he mumbles under his breath, quickly removing his helmet. His face is pale and shining with sweat, blood still dripping out the corner of his mouth. " _Lance_ ," he hisses, jolting his head, willing him to wake up. " _Open your eyes_."

Lance's eyes furrow slightly and that's enough to calm Keith. He hums, then splutters when he chokes on blood in the process. "Hng. . ." he groans weakly.

"Good job. Keep fighting, sharpshooter," Keith whispers, holding tightly onto Lance's hand with his free one. "We're almost there, okay?" his voice wobbles and cracks at the end, a tear falls from his eye to his chin and falls on Lance's cheek. "I can't lose you." Lance doesn't respond, body unmoving and his hand relaxing in Keith's grip, as Allura prepares to land the Blue Lion in the ship.

From there, the Black Paladin carries his trusted second-in-command as he sprints to the infirmary. 

Allura notices the way he does so - with an energy not typically seen between  _any_ of the Paladins. She follows, pushing back her thoughts to focus.

One dying man's crimson blood trailing against white floors.

Two hearts, one slowing to a stop and the other breaking with each passing tick.

Three Paladins in a hallway seemingly too long to make it to the infirmary on time.

The following things occur when they make it to the infirmary: Shiro stops Keith as he tries to shut Lance in the healing pod, Coran tries to convince Keith they must assess his conditions first before doing so, and Keith reaches a point where he's on the verge of fighting the both of them for getting in his way. In the end, though, Coran manages to take the boy's limp body with Allura's assistance while Shiro has to roughly escort Keith out of the room.

"Shiro, let  _go_!" Keith shouts, twisting in his arms once they make it out of the infirmary.

Shiro pins his shoulder against the wall and looks at him sternly, "Keith, stop! I know you want to be at Lance's side and help him but your actions are only harming him!"

Keith flinches back at his words and stays silent. At some point, when he knows Keith will stay put, Shiro leaves him in the hall to return inside. Keith slides down onto the ground, body sore and throbbing everywhere. His gaze fixates down to his torso and his stomach grows weak at the sight. Blood is slick against the pieces of armor and staining the black bodysuit even darker. His attention gets caught there, his stomach.

"Stupid fucking armor," Keith curses.  _Who the hell designs armor that doesn't protect your stomach?_ He throws his head back into the wall, fists clenching against the floor at his sides.

"Keith!" Hunk calls out, him and Pidge sprinting down the hallway towards Keith whose heart drops and words get caught in his throat.

They reach him, panting loudly. "What happened? How is he?" Pidge asks, but their faces have paled. From the amount of Lance's blood they had seen on the floor leading here or the blood staining Keith's body, he doesn't know. Probably both, he guesses.

"He. . ." Keith chokes, "I don't. . . I don't know."

As the two standing in front of him share a confused look, Keith realizes he really doesn't know. How  _did_ this happen? How could they be so careless? Do they not know better?

He looks back up to see Pidge and Hunk enter the infirmary, leaving him alone once more.

How  _is_ he?

Lance could be dead right now and Keith would have no idea, hiding in the hallway instead of being by his side.

He should be with him, Keith realizes. His teammate, partner, friend, right-hand-man. . . Shiro can try all he wants to drag Keith out of that room.

But a Black Paladin knows to be there for his teammates.

His legs struggle to push up his weight, the previous adrenaline only a distant memory, as he stumbles into the infirmary. Everyone turns upon his entrance, but he pays no attention to them. Keith looks straight past to see Lance stripped down just to his black bodysuit inside a healing pod. The sight fills his chest with hope.  _Maybe he'll be okay_.

"Keith," Coran speaks up. "I apologize for earlier, but it was necessary. I hope you understand."

Keith turns to face him, "I'm sorry, too. I was just. . . I panicked."

"I know," Coran replies, face softening in understanding.

Keith drags his aching legs closer to the crowd around Lance. "Is he. . .?

"He's alive," Allura assures him, allowing Keith's shoulders to relax slightly. However, he can't tear his eyes away from the hole in his teammate's stomach.

Coran speaks up again, "I was explaining to the others, Keith, that due to the severity of his injuries, we can't pinpoint exactly when he will be released." Keith swallows a thick lump in his throat. "Could I examine _you_ now?" he adds, tentatively.

Keith's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" His eyes follow Coran's finger, pointing at his legs. The armor protecting his knees is completely gone and the armor just below has been scraped down until half is completely gone. The black bodysuit is torn beneath where the armor should be, exposing red blood coating severely scraped skin. "Oh," Keith says, wincing when his brain finally catches up with his eyes.

Coran ushers him to an exam table to sit. He goes to work cleaning his legs, but Keith keeps his eyes trained on the only occupied healing pod.

After a few ticks of silence, Shiro leads the rest out of the room, focused mainly on the status of the planet we were sent to help. Coran finishes, standing up and brushing nonexistent dust off his hands. "There you go! All better," Keith looks down to see his knees and legs bandaged, "You're lucky it wasn't any worse otherwise you would have scraped your bones! I can get to work repairing your armor if you'd like."

Coran gestures for both of them to leave but Keith shakes his head. "I would actually prefer to stay here," he says, hating himself for feeling his cheeks warm.

Luckily, Coran smiles in understanding. "Of course. I will grab your clothes for you to change into and I'll take the armor."

"Thank you," Keith grins.

"Don't fret," he shakes his head, his smile changing into that of knowing, "I can see what you're feeling." His statement causes Keith to blush more, looking away to hide it. Coran laughs softly before leaving.

Keith stands from the exam table, legs seizing in pain. He winces, carrying his sore body a few feet away to sit on the floor in front of Lance. He sighs, craning his neck up to look at his peaceful face. "Damn it, Lance," Keith breathes out, shaking his head at the floor, "What are you doing to me?"

* * *

Over the week that passes by, it dawns on Keith that this is the worst torture he has ever endured.

Lance still hasn't been released from the healing pod.

Keith's body has still been sore so he can't drown himself in training simulations to distract himself. But even when he tries to, he's reminded too much of his time on the training deck with Lance.

He hasn't been able to sleep either, whether it's just dark thoughts steering him away from sleep or nightmares he has when he  _does_ manage to fall asleep.

Coran has been close to throwing him in a healing pod, too, just so he can sleep and "get back into shipshape".

They have all found a routine, though. Keith stays with Lance while everyone sleeps then part of the day Pidge and Hunk take his place. Allura found it necessary to halt all plans against the Galra while their Red Paladin is in his current state thanks to a lot of convincing from the rest. When other planets have contacted them in need of service, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura flew down to take care of the situation. Thankfully, an incident like before hasn't recurred and they've been deft in avoiding Galran fleets. But since then, everyone's been clouded with a depressed haze caused by Lance's absence.

One night, Shiro enters the infirmary to see Keith laying on the floor, using Lance's jacket that Hunk and Pidge brought in one day as a pillow. "Keith, are you awake?" he asks quietly.

"You shouldn't ask stupid questions," Keith sighs, sitting up and turning his torso around to face him. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you," he replies, walking closer. He stops, standing beside Keith with his arms crossed lightly over his chest and observing Lance.

"About. . ?"

with his fists pressed into his teary eyes. Frustration and stress has become too heavy the past week. Allura has been pressing for them to resume progress with Shiro in the Black Lion and Keith taking back Red but he downright refused.

"We  _can't_ form Voltron without Lance!" Keith had shouted. "We can't replace him!  _I_ can't replace him!"

It didn't take Keith long to find out why she had been rushing to that idea. He overheard her, Shiro and Coran talking the night before. Coran was telling them that Lance could stay in the pod for up to years but they still can't estimate an approximate time. "It could be in five ticks or hundreds of vargas from now," he explained solemnly.

Shiro told them humans call it a 'comatose state'.

Keith sobs, wiping furiously at his tears. "Lance," he croaks, "You've got to wake up. I. . . I can't do this without you. I'm a shitty leader as it is, but I do better with you at my side." He looks up at Lance again who is still motionless inside the pod, serene face lit up with the glowing turquoise lights surrounding him. Another sob wretches through his chest at the silent response. "Come  _on_! Even unconscious you can be infuriating," Keith shouts. He looks at Lance's stomach, now visibly healed from the outside. If it weren't for the ragged tear in his blood-stained bodysuit surrounding the area he was shot, it wouldn't be easy to tell it ever happened. "You need to wake up," Keith pleads again, voice softer. He pulls his knees to his chest, burying his face in them. "My fault. . . it's my fault," he repeats to himself.

The castle is so quiet without him. Keith has discovered he hates Lance's absence more than anything.

A few doboshes later, Keith's crying freezes at the sound of a thud in the room. He automatically reaches for the knife in his utility belt, prepared to attack.

"Oww," a voice groans in front of him. He looks up to find the turquoise lights in the healing pod have turned off. In fact, it's empty.

Lance pushes himself off the ground on wobbly arms. Keith feels his heart stop.

"Lance," he breathes.

"That's my name," he grunts, trying to sit up, "don't wear it out."

Next thing he knows, Keith is diving forward and embracing Lance, holding him tightly against his chest. "You're awake," he whispers to himself in disbelief.

"Woah, woah, did I miss something?" Lance asks, body freezing.

Keith furrows his eyebrows, pulling away to hold Lance by his shoulders, "You don't remember? Lance, you were  _shot_."

Lance's eyes search Keith's face in concern for a moment but when he processes his words the memory comes flooding back to him. He jolts back, hands flying to his stomach, but his body relaxes when he sees he's healed. "I was shot," he repeats.

"Yeah, and nearly killed me," Keith blurts out, breathless. "You've been in that damn pod for over a week!"

"A  _week_?" Lance repeats again.

Keith's hands slide off his shoulders, relaxing his body. "Yeah," I whisper, "We've been worried sick. No one knew when you'd wake up." Lance's eyebrows shoot up at that. "Lance, you-" Keith starts, trying to force the words out but not sure which ones are right. "You scared me," he finishes softly, face warming.

Lance leans forward, hugging Keith tightly. Keith wastes no time wrapping his arms around Lance's back in response. "I'm sorry," he whispers, lips grazing Keith's ear, making him shiver. Lance leans back slightly, locking his fingers behind Keith's neck with his thumbs resting on his jaw. Keith's eyes widen at Lance, only inches away with the most fond look on his face that has ever been directed toward Keith. "But Keith, you saved me."

He splutters at that, face turning red. "Wha-? No, I didn't. It was  _my_ fault it happened in the first place. You. . . I didn't. . ." he rambles, shaking his head, refusing to look at Lance's face.

"What are you talking about?" Lance scoffs, furrowing his eyebrows. He uses his thumbs to push up Keith's jaw, forcing him to look at Lance. "I should have been watching my six, remember? Besides, I was certain I wouldn't survive. But you, team leader," he pauses to stroke Keith's cheekbone, a lopsided smile stopping Keith's heart, "you got me here just in time. I'm alive because of you, Keith, don't you see that?"

Keith swallows a lump in his throat, unsure of what to say so instead he embraces Lance again who chuckles. "It's good to have you back, sharpshooter," he whispers into the curve of Lance's shoulder.

"It's good to be back," he responds, tightening his arms around Keith. "What'd I miss?"

Keith breathes out a bitter laugh, "Just a lot of worrying and silence. It isn't the same without you, Lance. I missed you." Keith's face burns at the realization of what he said, Lance's shoulders tensing underneath him. " _We_ missed you," Keith hurries to add, mentally cursing at himself.

"Aww,  _Keith_!" Lance coos, tightening his embrace. Keith sighs in relief but rolls his eyes, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a genuine smile for the first time in a week. "I missed you, too! Even with that mullet."

Keith scoffs, pushing Lance away lightly, "Enough with my hair." Lance laughs lightly, his hands gliding down Keith's arms with a feathery touch. The two sit like that, Keith smiling with relief and joy and Lance grinning back with warmth and endearment.

Lance snaps out of it quickly, though, leaning forward with concern written on his face. "Keith, have you been crying?" he asks, leaning closer.

"No," he lies, looking away. His eyes were still puffy and Lance could tell.

"I don't believe you."

Keith shrugs a shoulder, refusing to meet his eyes again, "Okay."

"Keith."

"What?"

"Look at me." He does, sighing defeatedly. Lance continues, "Why were you crying? And don't lie to me."

Focusing on his hands in his lap, Keith mumbles, "Like I said, it isn't the same without you."

"You cried? Over  _me_?" Lance gapes, "I've never seen you cry."

"And don't get used to it," Keith responds dismissively, crossing his arms. "Lance,  _everyone_ has cried over you. Pidge was teary eyed when I switched shifts with her to sit here the other night. Hunk would bawl during meals because it was too quiet without you. I saw Allura cry while looking up at Blue in the Lion Hangar a few days ago. Coran teared up whenever he told a story because there was nobody there who would ask to hear more. Pidge saw Shiro weeping in the locker room while cleaning off your armor." When Keith looks back up at Lance, he sees tears streaming down his cheeks. He reaches up, wiping away the wet trail before cupping his cheek. "Lance, you mean so much more to us than you know." His heart pounds harder as he adds, "You mean so much more to  _me_ than you know."

Lance's eyes widen at that and Keith refuses to look away this time despite the blood rushing up to his face. "Keith," he starts. Dread fills Keith's chest, shutting his eyes and mentally preparing himself for rejection.

It doesn't come.

Words fail Lance so he responds by flying forward, grabbing Keith by the back of his head, and smashing their lips together. Keith's eyes shoot open in shock and sees Lance with his eyes squeezed shut, kissing him earnestly. Keith doesn't hesitate. He leans forward, wrapping his arms around Lance's waist, and tilts his head to kiss him back.

One long-awaited kiss.

Two full hearts hammering against ribs.

Three words hanging in the air, silently spoken by both between their lips.

Keith bites Lance's bottom lip softly, savoring the quiet sound it elicits from him.

Lance pulls Keith closer until he's on Lance's lap, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss.

They break away for air but don't go far, leaning their foreheads against each other. "You mean so much to me, too," Lance pants, tucking Keith's hair behind his ear. Keith's heart flutters and he leans forward to kiss the tip of Lance's nose. "And let me just say," Lance starts, his swollen lips pulling into a smirk, "I got shot because I was totally ogling you."

Keith chokes on his breath, leaning away. "What?!" he asks in disbelief.

"Don't judge me, you were smoking hot there. So worth it."

" _Lance_!" 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, I'll try to make art for some of my favorite scenes so check out my profiles below to see it when I'm done! I post klance art there!
> 
> Tumblr: clover-monkey  
> Instagram: c.lovermonkey
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you thought in the comments!


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